Fall
by saylyra
Summary: Sequel to 'Summer'. Expectations and frustrations of trying to be a family. Actually pretty fluffy...Please RR.


Fall

_So the few reviewers who actually like__d the 'Summer' piece convinced me to post some kind of a sequel… _

_I __have this thing planned as a three-part-story and I am going to try to put up the other two parts ASAP. Anyhow, my other fic "Do me Good" is going to be continued as soon as I find a beta. Please leave a review. I am still struggling with keeping my sentences short and precise but I guess, or hope that'll improve along the way…_

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Fall

The rain had finally stopped, the weather was nice and warm now. Calleigh was happy that she finally could let her kids play at the near by playground again, without coming home soaked. She sat on one of the benches from where she had a good look what her kids were doing. Jayden had met a friend from day-care whose mother was sitting next to Calleigh. Sophia tried in vain to catch up with her brother's games and finally gave up. She seated herself in the sandbox and to Calleigh's delight started playing nicely with the other kids her age. Sophia looked up once and a while to see what her brother was doing. She wanted to join him so badly because he and his friends made a lot of noise while playing pirates.

Soon she got bored, as Calleigh had anticipated and went to her mother. Climbing on her lap, she started complaining about the mean, older boys, who wouldn't let her play with them. The other mother was absolutely amazed by Sophia.

"O my, she talks a lot, doesn't she? And she really knows how to express herself, doesn't she?…Tucker was really slow in that department, he was about three years old when he first started with two-word-sentences…" she reported. "Calleigh, I am truly amazed by you; I mean I have only one kid and a nanny, how do you do it? With those two, another one on the way and a job…?" She asked with a mixture of admiration and envy.

Calleigh had known Dinah for about a year now. Although Calleigh first had the impression that Dinah was shallow and not very interested in her child, compared to her engagement in various sports clubs, Calleigh's opinion had changed during the last few months. Well, she had seen her dropping the kid off and yelling instructions to the nanny when the boys were on a play date. And that was the reason that Calleigh got that initial impression. But that had changed. The two women had spent some time together, had gotten to know each other and Calleigh had to admit that she actually came to like her.

Dinah often seemed like the typical trophy wife to strangers. Dinah's husband was a lawyer; Dinah was about twenty years younger than him. She was not the kind of woman Calleigh would usually spend her time with. But she had to admit that she did not have many girlfriends, she knew most of her female friends from work. But Dinah's boy Tucker was a sweet child and Jayden's best friend, so their paths crossed eventually. Now Calleigh actually started looking forward to meeting up with her

"Well you see, I reduced my hours at work to accommodate the children's schedule and of course Eric helps out a lot. And then there is his mother who takes them when we are on call. We have a pretty good-working system going on; sure it takes lots of organization. But we wanted a family so I guess we just make it work:" Calleigh replied sincerely. Sure she had people she could count on but still. It was the most important thing for her and Eric to raise their kids on their own as much as possible. And of course they had to make sacrifices. She wouldn't spend hours at the shooting range anymore and Eric's diving time had been drastically reduced. Both of them had actually cut back on their working hours. But that had only been possible because H had had some influence at the department and they had been able to hire another CSI. They rather stayed at home in the evenings than go out and so on. But Calleigh did not think it was the right time to get that deep into a conversation yet…

"But how do you actually do it? And I do not mean to be indiscreet, but how did you buy that house in that kind of a neighbourhood with your salaries?" She asked.

Calleigh had expected a question like that sooner or later, her neighbours were mostly lawyers and doctors, they certainly did not live in a posh area but it was nice enough to cost accordingly. Calleigh and Eric's salaries were not bad, considering both of them had worked in their jobs for a number of years now, which had lead to regular raises in pay.

"Well you see we both had managed to save up some money individually before we got married and then both of our parents decided to chip in as a wedding gift. As they did with our respective siblings." Calleigh satisfied the other woman's interest that seemed quite genuine. Though she did not tell her that, when her dad had been diagnosed with a fatal liver disease only months before the wedding, his last wish had been to buy a house for his daughter to make up for what he done to her during her childhood and later. Eric and Calleigh had wanted to refuse that present but he had insisted and told them not to disrespect a dying man's wish. So they had given in and bought a house for themselves pretty quickly. Calleigh's dad had died the week after they had shown him pictures of their future home. He had not been able to attend his only daughter's wedding.

"Oh that is nice…she trailed off. "But girl you are so lucky with that hunk of a husband of yours. I see him every once and awhile picking up the kids from day-care. Dave doesn't do that, he says he doesn't pay the nanny for nothing. But your guy, he is simply gorgeous. He must be quite the…"

"Momma, I wanna go home. This is no fun!" Sophia interrupted the women. Calleigh was actually quite thankful for that disturbance. She did not want to hear what that woman thought about Eric's, well, qualities. That was something Calleigh did not feel comfortable with. It had been along time since she had shared details like that with girlfriends. Maybe in college, but even than she had rather been to herself... She was getting tired and hungry. She simply needed a rest, at home. She was quite aware that she was not that young anymore and being five months pregnant took its toll.

"Okay, let's just get your brother and we can go home, maybe we convince daddy to bring some take-out before he gets home from work."Calleigh told her daughter.

"Aww, that is too bad, it was so nice finally really talking to you Calleigh. I think what you do is truly amazing. Well maybe, next time when the boys are at our place we can sit down and have a coffee or something." Dinah told her sincerely.

She called Jayden, who absolutely didn't want to go home yet. But meanwhile Calleigh was not in the mood to discuss that with the kid anymore, she was getting restless and the baby was sitting on her bladder or actually it was kicking her bladder. Her mood worsened when Jayden threw a major temper tantrum on the parking lot. Calleigh did her best not to yell at him but she actually had to, to get him in the car. He usually was rather well behaved but sometimes, when he had his moments, he really was a handful. Strangely enough, Sophia was not the least bit impressed by her brother's antics. Usually his sulkiness was the cue for her to join in. Calleigh packed the kids into her car and drove home. Calling her husband from the car and leaving him a message to come home soon and bring food.

After Sophia had all of a sudden decided she also needed some attention and had picked a fight with he brother Calleigh had enough. At home she sat the kids in front of the TV, a thing she rarely did. Sometimes they were allowed to watch an hour of cartoons, Sunday mornings, because that would give Eric and her an extra hour. She was somewhat cranky but did not want to involve the children, in her probably pregnancy induced mood swings and make the deteriorating moodiness of all of them even worse. That's why she opted for the TV.

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When Eric listened to his voice mail he could hear the annoyance in his wife's voice. He decided it would probably be best to leave work as soon as possible and help out at home. He had finished most of his current workload and had asked Ryan to take care of a few more things that had to be dealt with.

So he picked up some Chinese food, per Calleigh's request and drove home.

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_P__lease review; I really__ do appreciate your comments…_


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